Perfectly Imperfect
by Raven Jadewolfe
Summary: Short story. My take on one of the possible repercussions of the cracks in time. Angsty fluff, if there is such a thing. Not happy with genre selections though... COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

**Trying my hand at a new genre, Doctor Who * cue head scratching and WTF looks*.**

**Not sure if I'll ever find enough willpower to finish my other stories, consider them semi-permanently stalled until further notice.**

**Also, none of this is beta'd, so any mistakes are on me.**

**Snicker, snort, kill your monitor, but know that flamers will be laughed at before being assaulted by catnip intoxicated cats and psychotic ninja elves.**

**Insert witty disclaimer here since we all know that the BBC owns all things pertaining to the Whoverse, including some of the dialog I snagged.**

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><p>"No, I don't want to go!" the man cries, feverishly clawing at the golden light enveloping his chest. His intense gaze, filled with pain and sorrow, settles on his friend, partner, and eternal plus one, and he forces his body into stillness.<p>

"I'm so sorry Rose. So, so sorry. I love you."

In the blink of an eye he dissolves into a cloud of gold dust that is immediately absorbed by the heart of the young TARDIS.

"Sean, no!" the woman he had called Rose wails as she falls to the grating where his prone form had lain seconds before, "Don't leave me..."

_"He needs you, that's very me."_

_ "I've only got one life Rose Tyler. I could spend it with you...if you want."_

_ "You'll grow old at the same time as me?"_

_ "Together."_

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><p><strong>First part done. That is just as nerve-wracking as I remember lol.<strong>_  
><em>


	2. Chapter 2

**Again, no owning by me.**

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><p>With Dorium's taunting question still soundly ringing in his ears, the Doctor launches his ship into the time vortex with a few absent lever flicks. She protests the rough take-off with an explosion of sparks and grinding gears...until something flutters against the farthest edges of her consciousness and she promptly allows her thief to manipulate her controls.<p>

"That's my sexy gir-" the compliment and prerequisite console stroking is cut short when the flighty vessel changes her mind once more and she hurtles towards a new destination, subsequently sending her lone occupant sprawling.

"What are you doing this time?" the Time Lord questions after climbing to his feet and pulling down one of the suspended monitors. He checks and re-checks what the readings are telling him, growing more agitated with each completed scan. "Oh, that is very not good. In fact, that is the exact opposite of good."

The TARDIS quietly hums, informing the confused alien that they have landed directly across the thing that has him so disturbed. Contrary to his distress, the ancient ship seems to be delighted by what she has found.

"Impossible," he finally murmurs before reflexively adjusting his bow tie and bolting for the doors.

Outside, his feet utterly fail him as he comes face to face with an exact replica of his ship-except that it is a deep green instead of dark blue.

He is still gaping like a fish when one of the doors of said replica swings inward and an unforgettable figure comes stumbling out.

Memories of his favorite pink and yellow human assault his mind from all angles, pushing every other thought out as she staggers, drops to her knees, and collapses forward onto his chest with an anguished sob. Just like his two previous incarnations, the drive to pull her into his arms and hold her close is pure instinct.

One that he does not, cannot, ignore.

He finds her head, now tucked under his chin, is still a perfect fit, even with all of his...renovations. Her arms snake around his neck and his superior olfactory senses are flooded with a scent that he was certain he would never get direct form its source ever again.

"Rose."

One simple word spoken aloud, but within it is carried over nine hundred years of failures, triumphs, loneliness, fulfillment's, regrets, and achievements.

And love.

Most of all, it is filled with love because, for him, that emotion is synonymous with that word.

That name.

Her name.

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><p><strong>Two down.<strong>

**I know these are just little snippets, but it feels right and I'm going with it. **


	3. Chapter 3

**More non-ownage on my behalf.**

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><p>Hearing her name uttered in a voice that she fails to remember ever encountering, Rose warily raises her head and barely manages to restrain a gasp when she is met with an unfamiliar face that holds a pair of ancient eyes that never change, no matter their color.<p>

The stunned quiet around the pair stretches on as sorrowful brown orbs search twinkling-and more than slightly nervous-hazel. The Doctor purposely casts off his mental barriers while she probes, giving her an unrestricted view to all that he is and ever was.

Anything she wishes, it is hers.

He refuses to hide from her ever again, even to save himself.

Finally, upon finding what she was looking for and judging it satisfactory, she lets out a trembling breath and graces him with a watery smile. "I've found you, my Doctor."

His hand moves independently of his brain and tenderly molds itself to her cheek, "You did find me. Now you need to tell me what's happened so I can fix it because as much as I love you, Rose Tyler, you shouldn't be here."

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><p><strong>Of course I had to have him say it.<strong>


	4. Chapter 4

**Nope, still don't own.**

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><p>"First came the cracks in time and space, then stuff-and people- started disappearin' and no one could remember them. It was like they'd never existed," she begins, an automatic response to the Doctor's demand for information, "Sean said it was like the entire universe was bein' erased, but in bits and pieces at a time. Then he figured out that it wasn't just one universe, it was all of them. He's actually the one who came up with a plan to cross universes so we could help you reverse things before it was too late."<p>

"Who's Sean?" the Time Lord interjects, his confusion plastered on his face, "Friend? First companion? Family dog? Mobile pincushion? Just tell me he's not that worlds version of Jack Harkness."

She swipes her tangled hair away from her face and gifts him with another sad smile, "He's you, the other you. Sean Noble Tyler. Picked the name 'cause he said that he was tired of bein' plain ole' John Smith and since he only had one life to work with this time around, he wanted a good name to be remembered by."

The Doctor glances around for a moment, ever mindful not to shift the woman resting on his legs, "Where is old Handy anyway? I'm surprised he hasn't come to say hello yet. Or strangle me into my next regeneration. He isn't going to do something disgustingly abhorrent like jump out from behind something and pelt me with pear bits, is he?"

The horrified expression manifesting on her face makes him realize his grievous error. "Something happened, didn't it?"

"Yeah."

"Please tell me what happened Rose," he begs, inwardly cursing his ill timed humor all the while, "I need to know what happened to my brother."

"He got injured while we were launching our TARDIS," Rose shudders and shifts closer to her companion, "Sean wasn't even sure that it-she- was mature enough to get us out of there, but we were out of options. One of the support cables in the console room snapped during take off an' hurt him bad. 'Course he said he was fine and I was too distracted to argue until it was too late to save him. Kept telling me how sorry he was and that he loved me. When he-when it happened, he just exploded into this gold dust that the TARDIS sucked up. I kind of went a bit mental for a while after that."

The trickle of tears has become a torrent and Rose feels the gentle pressure of the Doctor's head come to rest on top of hers when she pauses to regain a bit of her shattered self control. "I'm not sure when we broke through, hardly noticed the landing too, to be honest. I just knew that I had to get out of there once we stopped movin'."


	5. Chapter 5

***points to readers * Stop staring at me, you know I don't own anything!**

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><p>While he cradles the grief ridden woman to his chest, the Doctor struggles within himself.<p>

_The cracks. _

_Big Bang Two._

Pete's world should have been restored, safe and sound, along with everything else when the reboot occured. He is also perfectly and uncomfortably aware that he ought to send her back as soon as possible.

To keep her safe.

Especially from this reckless and often childish incarnation of himself.

But with his brother, clone, or whatnot gone, there would be no one waiting on the other side to protect her.

_No, he can't send her back._

_Not again._

Decision made, he leans back to glimpse at his favorite human only to find that she has drifted into a restless slumber, one hand curled around his neck and the other still clutching the lapel of his jacket.

Taking the utmost care not to rouse her, the Doctor gingerly gathers Rose more securely against him and gets to his feet.

"Geronimo," he sighs to himself then proceeds to carry her limp form into his TARDIS.


	6. Chapter 6

**I own nothing.**

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><p>Dark gold and the subtle aroma of apple grass greet Rose as she awakens. It takes a few heartbeats for her neural pathways to clear the vestiges of sleep away enough to register exactly what the golden sight is all about and to push the comforter from her face.<p>

_Sean. _

_Mum. _

_Dad. _

_Tony. _

_ Doctor._

She vaults out of the bed, away from the pain that threatens to drag her under again, and abruptly learns that somehow she has wound up in her old room on the Doctor's TARDIS. In response to her epiphany, she feels a comforting nudge on the edges of her mind. Unlike the manic energy exuded from her infant time machine, this feeling is soft and patiently loving.

"It's good to see you again too girl," she fondly replies to the ship while she scours the space for her weathered boots and tugs them on. When she tries to locate her gun belt and pistol though, she is unsurprised when her search yields nothing but bits and bobs from her former, former life. "Still not a big fan of guns, is he? I should've known."

_They can shoot me dead, but the moral high ground is mine._

Abandoning the search for her weapon, she redirects and quickly combs her hair before haphazardly sorting into into a pony tail.

Now to find the adorably scatterbrained and bow tied Doctor.


	7. Chapter 7

**Nope, don't own. **

**That means you cannot blame me for the travesty that has become River Song. **

**I like Jonn Wolfe's explanation of River better, where she is a regenerated Donna, though I have no qualms with the Ponds otherwise. Actually, I heart Rory. Such an adorable geek.**

**So ha.**

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><p>Of course she finds him in the single place that both Sean and the Doctor favored above all in their respective ships, the library being the sole exception.<p>

The console room.

"I see you've redecorated since the last time I was here," she muses aloud over the familiar buzz of a sonic screwdriver in use, allowing the sound to lead her down the stairwell that ribbons under the glass platform and to a wire covered Doctor.

After seating herself on the bottom step, the daft old alien turns toward her and pushes a pair of ridiculous looking goggles up into his floppy mop, "Yeah, kind of had to. Last regeneration was a bit...let's say energetic. Soaked up a bit too much radiation to stop a meltdown and boom! I blew the whole place to bits, to be honest. It all occurred in mid-flight too. Almost crashed into Big Ben-again- while I was hanging out of the doors. Anyways," he catches the expression on her face and forces himself back on task,"She scrapped the old desktop theme as a result and came up with this one instead. Do you like it?"

She gives another, more critical, look around before giving him a classic Rose Tyler grin and nodding her head, "It's wonderful. It's like a new, new old TARDIS for a new, new old Doctor. It fits. Although it reminds me a bit of when I regenerated the first time, I have to say. I blew up a barn just outside Sheffield 'bout two years back. Thought Sean was gonna have kittens when it happened."

"Did you just say regenerate?" the man squawks, his eyes doing their best to imitate saucers, "But that's impossible! You're human!"

"I am the Bad Wolf, I create myself," much to his chagrin, she repeats the words from so long ago, "And if you think I'm impossible, what would you say if I told you that Sean had also regenerated?"

He spouts off the first thing that comes to mind. "But you look the same! How can you look like the Rose Tyler I remember if you've regenerated?"

She ponders this a for a few seconds, carefully mapping out her reply before speaking.

"It was an internal regeneration, like you did after the Dalek shot you. I used enough energy to heal myself up then expelled the rest. It went into Sean actually. We'd both been injured pretty badly an' I knew that the energy could heal him as well. And it did, but it was also enough of a boost to his system that he gained the ability to regenerate like a normal Time Lord."

In a flash, the Doctor has his sonic out and scans the girl. He quickly checks the readings and gives her a dubious look, "You still only have one heart. Why is that?"


	8. Chapter 8

**You already know what I'm going to say.**

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><p>Rose shrugs in way of apology and bobs her head once in affirmation, "Sean says that I won't gain my second heart until I move into a new body. Some sort of Time Lord fail-safe mechanism I'm guessin'."<p>

"Rose Tyler, Defender of Earth. Fantastic pink and yellow human turned brilliant pink and yellow Time Lady," he grandly announces with a healthy dose of awe and affection added into the mix, "Did Handy-er-Sean keep our, his face as well?"

She shakes her head, "No he didn't. I think he missed the sound of his second heart too much. Looked a bit like that bloke from Sherlock after what happened in Sheffield. He said that he did his best to keep with a form he knew I'd fancy since his/your tenth face was supposedly made just for me."

"Willingly passing up a chance to be ginger? Shameful," he declares, oblivious to the fact that his companions timid smirk has faded, "The things we do for love."

He realizes that he's made yet another mistake when her eyes fill up with tears and immediately jumps from his swing to hug her. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that Rose. Still a bit rude, ole me."

"It's okay," she sniffles into his shirt, "He said the same thing to me after he changed. I forgot how alike you could still be, even with new faces and personalities. Took me by surprise, that's all. Don't apologize."

"Sorry," he involuntarily blurts, then presses a quick kiss to her forehead and opts for a subject change, "Well, you're welcome to stay as long as you like, at least while your toddler TARDIS recharges. She's knackered from all the time/space/universe hopping and is currently powered down. I put her up on the fifth level, in one of those Japanese gardens that Rory built."

Brown eyes bore into him as he releases her and scuttles away, "Who's Rory? Your new companion? Why haven't I met them yet?"

The Doctor uses the sonic to fuse a few more loose wires together as he gathers his thoughts, "He's not my companion. Well, he was, sort of, for while. Good old Rory. The Lone Centurion. Roricus Pondicus. And best of all, Mr. Pond. He was Amy's plus one. Still is, I think. At least he was the last time I swung around Leadworth. They may have been slightly more than just a little put out with me that I hadn't come by sooner to explain that I wasn't quite as dead as they thought. Then we had Christmas dinner. After a few glasses of wine though they got all kissy and gross and I had to leave, so I didn't really have a chance to ask."

"You died? When?" she demands and the Doctor fails to suppress a cringe in response to the octave her voice has managed to climb to.

"Technically the Teselecta- a time traveling death machine powered by miniaturized humans who go around trying to punish history's worst criminals- died, but not before River- Amy and Rory's daughter that was conceived on the TARDIS and ended up with some Time Lordy abilities, but was stolen right after she was born and raised to be my murderer- changed the entire course of history and caused all of time to crash together and collapse simultaneously, " he babbles, keeping his eyes-and sonic- on the wires dangling from the platform, "There were these big mind warping baddies called the Silence and a nasty woman named Madame Kovarian involved as well and I certainly possibly may have temporarily been pseudo-married to River in order to help kick-start time again."

"You're married?" Rose chokes out, her eyebrows raising dangerously close to her hairline, "Wow. Never thought I'd hear that from the guy who yelled that he didn't do domestic every chance he got."

"That timeline was aborted, so it never really happened. I never told her my name either, "he hastily elaborates, "So it doesn't count, not really."

"Does she know that?"


	9. Chapter 9

**If I owned Doctor Who, Jenny would have long since become a companion. Along with Jack. And maybe Malcom Taylor.**

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><p>The Doctor freezes at the question, then drops his head in contrition and blows out a sigh, "You have to understand that nothing, I mean not one single thing, is ever that simple with River Song. Her time-line is tied to mine, so we keep meeting, but it's all in the wrong order. Jumbled like a big ball of wibbly woobly, no wait...forget the wibbly wobbly, it's nothing like that. The first time I met her was the last time she met me and it's been that way ever since. I am older each time we intersect while she gets younger. Mostly. Also, she is going to spend the rest of her very long life in prison for killing me, so the least I can do for her-to make things easier on her- is allow her to indulge in this one fantasy."<p>

Rose crosses her arms with a huff, "So what you're tryin' to avoid telling me flat out is that this River still thinks she is married to you-even though it never happened in this reality-because you feel sorry for her. And you didn't tell her your name, which supports your argument. I got all that right, right?"

"Well, when you put it like that...but your version was so boring!" he scoffs before facing her and throwing his arms out in a bout exasperation, "I didn't know what else to do Rose! She messed everything up when she didn't shoot me! Then she had the audacity to tell me it was because she couldn't let the man she loved die! I was desperate! All I needed was a few minutes of uninterrupted contact with her to set time and space back on its correct path, but River had convinced her parents to aid in keeping us as far away from one another as possible."

His hands drop onto her slender shoulders, "I admit that I used the poor girl's affection for me against her in order to set things right. I'm not proud of it, using her like that, but you know better than anyone just how good I am at turning people into a weapon of some sort and using them for my own ends."

"You can't say that Doctor. You warn everyone that travels with you how dangerous things can get," Rose defends, hugging herself to the Time Lord, "I chose to fight, like so many others, because I believed in you. Still do."

"But I've done you wrong so many times. I can't even begin to comprehend how you still have the ability to trust me, forgive me, after all I've done to," he confesses, his voice dropping low, laden with defeat, "I think I have finally learned the lesson the universe has been trying to tell me though. No more tag alongs. It's too dangerous."

She retaliates with a thwack to his chest, "It's not all bad for the ones who follow you around. I mean gettin' to visit all those places, see aliens that no one back on Earth could ever drea-"

"I meant for me," he flatly replies.


	10. Chapter 10

**What do the BBC and I co-own? Nothing. They own it all.**

**Damn them.**

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><p>Cold reality slams into Rose and she stumbles out of the Time Lord's reach. "You're gonna try an' send me away again, aren't you? Course you are, because that's what you do when you start with all your self loathin' and the rest of that rubbish." She fixes her hands into a mocking steeple, "Oh, poor little Time Lord, I've got thousands of people throughout time and space who love me and would do anything for me, but I have to travel alone because I'm a BIG FAT IDIOT!"<p>

Shocked, her target takes an uncertain step backwards, nearly crashing into a support beam in the process, "Now Rose, there is absolutely no need to get all shouty. I just want you safe, like I always have. You-"

"You want me SAFE?" the woman explodes and charges forward to nullify his retreat, "I spent years trying to prove that I was strong enough and yet the first bleedin' thing either of you do when things go pear shaped is try to send me away! I'm tired of bein' carted off all the time because you are too stupid to believe that I can take care of myself," she dejectedly slumps against the railing and glares at the floor a while before continuing, "I've lost you twice and now Sean is gone forever. I can't-I just can't...I've survived a living hell three times so far and I honestly don't think I can do it again. So if you don't want me here, just say so, then have some mercy and drop me into the nearest sun. You can even keep my TARDIS as a consolation prize."

"What have I done to you?" his mournful tone forces Rose to look back to him, "I never-I didn't-I'm not...when did you become so broken?"

"Oh, I don't know Doctor. Maybe right 'round the time my parents an' little brother disappeared and everyone but me and Sean forgot they ever existed. Perhaps it was when the universe YOU stranded us in started collapsin' an' there was nothing we could do about it but come lookin' for you. Or maybe it was when _my_ husband died tryin' to get to you, only to find out that as much as you claim to love me, you still don't want me around and are makin' plans to dump me off god knows where under the pretense of it bein' safer for me. The nerve, saying it's for my wellbein' right after admitting that you want to be on your lonesome because it's safer for _you_."

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><p><strong>Ouch.<strong>


	11. Chapter 11

**Ownership still hasn't changed.**

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><p>He starts to move in her direction, but this time it is Rose who shies away. "I didn't mean you . Never you," he implores, raising an arm as if to touch her, "Not Rose Tyler. All I ever wanted was to protect you and sometimes that meant protecting you from myself."<p>

With a quivering hand, she wipes at the tears bleeding down her features, "When are you gonna get over yourself an' realize that I'm not safe anywhere without you or Sean? You pegged me perfectly a long time ago. Jeopardy friendly, that's me, remember? If you left me on my own, how long do you honestly think it would take for trouble to find me?"

"I-" he attempts, but she barrels on. "Besides, I'm a Time Lady now and—getting dumped into a star notwithstandin'- I've got a responsibility to help that baby TARDIS grow and learn so she can live up to her full potential. I owe it to her, and Sean, to try and help in any way I can. Now if you won't at least help me with that, I'm gonna have to find someone else who knows about space and time travel. Maybe someone like Jack. I'm sure that Captain Flirty McTightpants himself would just love to take me in and help me with _anything_ I might need, seein' as you're not interested in keepin' me around."

The mere mention of the former Time Agent's name paired with the inference of a close, prolonged proximity to _his_ Rose incites something primal inside of the old alien to snarl possessively. He straightens his bow tie and stretches to his full height, "I don't think we need to go that far Rose. And might I add that _you_ are the one who went all crazy on me when I hadn't said a word about dropping you off anywhere."

"But you said..." she tries to argue, but it is his turn to talk now.

"No more tag alongs, yes I know that. I'm the one who said it after all, so I ought to know. But you, Rose Tyler," the way he says her name is reminiscent of both of his tenth selves, "Never were, nor will you ever be something as ordinary as a companion. I learned that lesson in the hardest way possible. I lost you, then gave you away to a more human me in the hopes of giving you the happily ever after you deserve, and yet here you are. After all this time, you are still all pink and yellow and...and still the most extraordinary thing I've ever seen in my life. Any of my lives, truth be told."

"Doctor," the word is a plea, almost a prayer.


	12. Chapter 12

**You know I own nothing.**

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><p>In a heartsbeat, he has her wrapped in this arms and is lovingly gazing into her dark eyes, "I'm not going to let you go ever again, my wonderful, impossible Rose, and though I desperately hope that one day you will love me half as much as you do Sean, you would be doing this old man the highest honor simply by allowing me to be your friend."<p>

Left at a loss for words, she closes her eyes, lets her head fall against his chest, and permits herself to be calmed by the soothing rhythm of his double hearts beating. The Doctor, meanwhile, refuses to let the opportunity to pass him by and quietly revels in the simple joy of holding his precious Rose.

When tensions have dispersed, he tenderly takes her chin in hand and lifts her face into view.

"So how long were you planning on staying with me this time, my little plus one?"

"I promised both you and Sean forever an' each time I meant it," she answers with a wistful smile, "So that's exactly what you're gonna get. Forever."

Alone, they were battered, bruised, and broken.

Together though, they were perfectly imperfect.

Perfection didn't matter much to them though, because it couldn't change a thing.

Why?

It was the Doctor and Rose on the TARDIS.

Together.

Shiver and Shake reunited.

The stuff of Legends together again.

"Hello Sweetie."

_ Oh no._

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><p><em><strong>Fin<strong>_

**?**


	13. The Dreaded Obligatory Author's Note

Just a little groveling and self promotion here. Sorry *hides behind monitor *

I am out of practice with making banners and absolute rubbish at video editing, but if any of you feel inspired enough by my tale to do either, feel free.

I just beg you to beam me a link where I can check it out and go all fangirl on you.

Many thanks,

Raven


	14. Sequel Has Begun

**First chapter of the sequel is up. It's called a Re-Rebooted Life and Still No Map to Be Had**


	15. Cyberbullying is a Crime

**As posted on my profile.**

**Oh, and I've heard that the LU (Literate Union) is back on the prowl, trolling and harassing authors everywhere. You've tried to take me down before and LOST, so don't bother. I'm neither amused nor intimidated by your antics. Just go back to your corner and play god amongst yourselves, the rest of us have better things to do.**

**On that note, I am encouraging authors/readers to report any reviews/PMs you receive from any member of the LU or other gang-banging flamers club then IMMEDIATELY block them from being able to contact you. Always remember,**

**CYBERBULLYING IS A CRIME.**


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